2014 Buffalo Bandits season
The Buffalo Bandits are a lacrosse team based in Buffalo, New York playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2014 season was their twenty-third season in the NLL.
| 2014 Buffalo Bandits | |
|---|---|
| League | NLL |
| Division | 3rd East |
| 2014 record | 8 - 10 |
| Home record | 6 - 3 |
| Road record | 2 - 7 |
| Goals for | 190 |
| Goals against | 200 |
| General Manager | Steve Dietrich |
| Coach | Troy Cordingley |
| Captain | John Tavares |
| Alternate captains | Scott Self Shawn Williams |
| Arena | First Niagara Center |
| Team leaders | |
| Goals | Mark Steenhuis (31) |
| Assists | Ryan Benesch (53) |
| Points | Ryan Benesch (78) |
| Penalties in minutes | Steve Priolo (65) |
| Loose Balls | Jay Thorimbert (191) |
| Wins | Anthony Cosmo (8) |
| Goals against average | Anthony Cosmo (10.77) |
After finishing last in the East and missing the playoffs in 2013, the Bandits fired head coach Darris Kilgour and hired his former assistant coach Troy Cordingley, recently fired by the Toronto Rock despite winning the Les Bartley Award.
The Bandits started the 2014 season strong. They lost their first game, but then won their next five straight and eight of their next nine, looking much stronger than the 2013 Bandits who missed the playoffs. But the Bandits seemed to return to their 2013 form after that, losing their last eight straight and finishing third in the division. But the losing streak ended in the playoffs, as they took out the Toronto Rock in Toronto in the division semi-finals. In the division finals, the Bandits won game one of the two-game series against Rochester. But the Knighthawks came back to win game two and the resulting mini-game to take the division and end the Bandits' up-and-down season. The Knighthawks would go on to win the NLL Championship, their third straight.